In Hyderabad

                When I was handed a posting to Bangalore in the month of September, I was told that I was being sent there on my request and that it was, in-spite of a DIG being posted there as the branch head. So it was hinted that I may be called to handle other cases in nearby branches if the exigencies so called for. I was so eager to get to Bangalore, that I nodded my head to it, without realizing the import of it. On the third day of my reporting to Bangalore, I was called to Hyderabad for an ongoing investigation there. I had to stay put for a fortnight and didn't care for it so much, as Chinni was in the US then and I had nothing to loose, wherever I was. So I was back in Bangalore after that fortnight, life went on as normal and Chinni returned from her trip in November. 

             The second week of November (around the time of Chinni's Birthday) the High Court of AP ordered for another enquiry to be conducted by the Hyderabad Branch against another high profile politician. The deadline for the enquiry was 3 months. And naturally again, my bosses found me to be the most convenient choice to handle such surprise developments. I was asked to report to Hyderabad on the 26th of November and take up the enquiry.
           So me and Chinni decided to travel to Hyderabad together. We took the morning flight and landed in Hyderabad on the 26th morning. I dropped off Chinni at the Police Officers Mess at Banjara Hills and then reported to my Boss at the office. After getting introduced to the nitty-gritties of the case, I was handed a team of officers and bundles of documents to begin with my enquiry. Chinni was not too happy with the idea of staying put in the Police Officers mess, as we anticipated this enquiry would take a long time now. So the next day we moved into our house at Dilsukhnagar. The reason we didnt move into it, in the first place was that, Dad and Mom were out there in the US since August, and the house was kept locked for more than three months now. The very idea of opening the house and having to clean up the whole place first, kept us off. But then the thought of Chinni, having to spend weeks together in the isolation of a guest house, forced us to take the risk. While I was busy with task at hand, Chinni moved into the house and got it all cleaned up. Though lot of kitchen stuff was still there for us to use, we picked up some fresh provisions for the coming few weeks.  It was almost like starting a whole new phase of life. 

            We are now into the fourth week, and no signs of getting relieved from here. The enquiry though has been temporarily 'stayed' by the High Court, but in anticipation of the 'stay' being lifted, I am continuing to hang on. Chinni is busy with her studies and cooking in her spare time. We are spending the weekends at the malls and movies and catching up with friends. While Chinni's classmate hosted us at the Ohri's on one weekend, my batchmate hosted us at the Chiran Fort club the next. Last Sunday was spent at the IMAX, watching Mission Impossible-Ghost Protocol. This weekend, I guess its our turn to host people. Life has been fun but with a tag of temporariness. With the 'stay' on the enquiry still on, and with no signs of it being lifted any soon, I've started to grow a little impatient with nothing much to do here, but for waiting. We want to just go back and start off with our normal lives in Bangalore. Don't know how long its going to take my bosses, to realize that, I can as well do the waiting in Bangalore, along with supervising my branch-work at the same time. The proof that we are just killing time here, is this long post I am writing during office hours : )

1711 !

It's nearly two weeks now since that date, but I felt it still deserved a write up. One week since her arrival from the US... it was Chinni's Birthday. The 16th was just another normal day at office for me... but a lot was going on in the background. Chotu and Sujeet were at home too. We made some small preps for the midnight that was to come. That evening actually Me and Chinni were invited to my DIG's house (who live just next door), for dinner as it was his daughter's Birthday. So we got dressed up went to our next door neighbors. As we finished Dinner and returned home, Chotu and Sujeet got the house decorated as planned, for the other Birthday that was to begin. Chinni was taken by surprise, but I felt it was too early for that. We then spent the rest of the evening looking at some of Chinnis pictures of her US visit on the TV, and as it got closer to midnight, we brought in the Cake and had a short and sweet Cake-Cutting ceremony.

The next morning, it was office as usual again, but I was all engaged with the bigger surprise to be brought in that evening. After all the rush hour co-ordination, I finally returned home from office by about 6 in the evening. Chinni was still not out of her Jet lag and was sleeping. As planned, her surprise just then arrived at the door step. Chotu was too excited seeing and I told him to go wake Chinni up and bring her to the door, with her eyes closed. He did exactly that and as she arrived at the door step.... there it was her new car registered with the number "1711".

Chinni was for sure excited at the new arrival. She grabbed the keys and took to the wheel immediately. After the initial excitement was over, we all got dressed up and left for the "Prasanna Ganapathy Temple" on Kasturba road for the Pooja. After Pooja we all drove in the new car to the Manthri Square for Chinni's Birthday dinner. But then Chotu wanted to watch a movie and so we decided we'll grab some quick dinner at the Food Court and watch TINTIN the movie on 3D at the Inox. Dont know why but... except for Chinni, all of us dozed off in our seats once the movie started. Chotu infact had to be woken up when all of us were leaving. Nevertheless.... it was one memorable Birthday !